TGS 2004: Tsukiyo ni Saraba - First Look

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It's got a funny name, but the action crosses all language barriers.

By Ed Lewis

The recent arrival of Gungrave Overdose in stores provided plenty of kicks in terms of loads of bullets on the screen at once, but just in case it didn't provide enough bullet time for you a new game shown at the Tokyo Game Show has got your back. Titled Tsukiyo ni Saraba (TnS), this game delivers that slo-mo feeling in spades with bullets slowly streaking through the air and action that turns a regular gunfight into a violent aerial ballet of death and destruction. It doesn't make much sense, but it certainly is fun to goof off with. We got on a machine to get some hands on time and had a hard time stopping.

There are two characters in TnS: a gunslinger and a martial arts fighter with a more than subtle resemblance to Bruce Lee. Both of them have their own unique fighting styles, but they're united in their abilities to slow time down so much that bullets can be seen and avoided. By entering bullet time, both bullets and other obstacles, such as collapsing walls, can be dexterously avoided. But who cares about dodging falling objects? The real game is in the gun battles so let's go there in the next paragraph.

The basic movements here are for a couple different kinds of attack and a Rage mode that drops the bomb on all nearby enemies with a sustained intense attack. Throw in a dodge move and that's the basic gameplay right there. In a sense, it's very similar to Gungrave Overdose with the waves of enemies coming out of doors or appearing on walkways above, but the action is much more fluid and with the constant slowing down of time all of the fights take on a much more strategic aspect.

Since it's difficult to take down an enemy with one volley of kicks, punches, or even bullets it's necessary to do some multi-tasking when facing a group of enemies. This means knocking one opponent down, then another and another and going back to the first as he's getting up to finish him off and maybe move on to yet another enemy before coming back again. Playing the game and getting through is an exercise in constantly dealing with many different things going on at once and coming out at the end with everyone dead and feeling like a rock star.

It's not that TnS doesn't have its own problems. The camera is pretty wonky here and can unfortunately add to the already hectic action. By going in and out and putting important enemies (since every enemy with a gun is important) out of the frame it's sometimes a little too difficult to manage the situation on the screen. If this can be refined to make everything flow that much better than this would be a more satisfying situation.

Even with the camera problems, TnS packs in lots of action and uses the time manipulation in a way that almost feels like a 3D version of Viewtiful Joe. Rockets fired can be slowed down and shot at in a more sensible manner and falling objects can be more easily avoided. Moving around the game it's important not just to dodge, but to dodge and put one's self in a better position for a counter-attack.

It's not that anything being done here is completely revolutionary, but it's a satisfying experience that could elevate a basic shooter into something more. If the one level that we played is a sign of things to come, this could be one to hope and pray for a localized version. It's certainly an interesting title and one worth following. Check back here for more info because we'll have our sights set on it.